Mick Hartley

The Observer today has a two-page spread looking at the question of Blair’s current position, and his future as PM. Naturally the opinions of some weighty members of the intelligentsia are sought. These are people who are better able than the rest of us to articulate these things; they make their livings, after all, by their use of words, and being, you know, highly intelligent, their opinions are bound to be enlightening.

Anyway, Douglas Hurd is an obvious choice, as a man who spent the last part of his political career desperately trying to avoid hindering in any way at all Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing. So, a man with bags of moral credibility, who unsurprisingly thinks Blair should go: “I think for his own good he ought to step down.” Which probably sums up what a lot of Bosnians would have said about Hurd.

Next up, Bob Worcester, of MORI. “Blair bet the store on weapons of mass destruction. He told us that in 45 minutes we could all be dead – and now that turns out not to have been true.” Well I don’t remember Blair saying that, but clearly the chairman of MORI must know better.

Julia Langdon “political journalist and broadcaster” suggests that Blair has lost his credibility: “he has shown himself to be a man who responds to situations rather than acting on principle…. Blair has shown himself to be a rather wibbly-wobbly person.” Well there you go again: I’d have said that the exact opposite was true, at least as regards Iraq, considering how blindingly obvious it’s been that Blair has been consistent throughout, and has been clearly acting on principle.

But the last word must go to Claire Tomalin. An obvious person to consult really, considering her expertise on, um, Samuel Pepys, and Jane Austen. Claire puts her finger on the problem with her customary skill: “Blair’s position has been very very damaged by the situation in Iraq and being yoked to George Bush. Bush is a dreadful, dreadful figure, and a dreadful politician.” Yes, there’s the genuine voice of the London literati, cutting through all the crap about UN resolutions and the history of Saddam’s regime: Bush is just “dreadful, dreadful”.